Poll

Local News

An online system that displays e-mails among the three Jeffco commissioners — created after the Courier confronted the commission over an apparent violation of the state Open Meetings Law — has been used just once.

And, according to First Amendment attorney Chris Beall, the system still doesn’t bring the commissioners into full compliance with the law.

There will be a 40 percent increase, from $15 to $21, in the per-player fee for youth football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse and activities for the park district playing fields.

The Evergreen Park and Recreation District board voted Nov. 18 against a series of gradual increases to $30 in 2013 and agreed to revisit the fee-increase policy by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

The board rejected the idea of charging teams $45 per hour to use the synthetic turf fields, at least for the time being.

The board of the Evergreen fire district has postponed until Dec. 8 a decision on whether to change or eliminate the cost-of-living raise included in the draft of the 2010 budget.

Evergreen Fire/Rescue consists of 32 full-time and four part-time employees. There are also about 80 unpaid volunteer firefighters. The paid staff has received a 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase for the last two years.

Wulf Recreation Center is holding a grand reopening on Saturday, Nov. 21, to celebrate the remodeling and expansion of the old weight room and other improvements to the building on South Olive Road near Evergreen High School.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., visitors of all ages are invited to partake of activities, balloons, music, arts and crafts, and food and beverages. The day-care center is offering a one-hour-free deal, and there will be several free classes and demonstrations during the day. A ribbon-cutting will kick off the festivities at 9 a.m.

The Evergreen Park and Recreation District will hold a special meeting and continuation of the budget discussion on Nov. 18 at the Evergreen Lake House to discuss the topic of field use fees and other matters.

A regularly scheduled meeting of the board was held Nov. 17, but field usage fees were not discussed at that meeting.

Public comment will be accepted under the budget discussion.

The board expects to review and approve the entire budget at a special board meeting Dec. 11.

The board posted notice of a special meeting at 3 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20 at the fire department headquarters, 1802 Bergen Parkway. The budget approval date was pushed back to the next regular board meeting, 7 p.m. Dec. 8.

The board is weighing whether a 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase for paid fire department staffers is justified given the economy. The Consumer Price Index in the first half of 2009 was negative 0.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jefferson County District Judge Tamara Russell ruled in favor of proceeding in the case against the Evergreen couple accused of securities fraud after a two-hour preliminary hearing Nov. 12.

The state of Colorado has charged Anne Wakeford Berry, 48, and her husband, Kenneth Gerald Berry, 66, with multiple counts of securities fraud in connection with their company, Biotech Information Systems Inc., which was incorporated in Nevada in June 2005.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are popping up all over the Denver area, but there are none operating overtly in unincorporated Jefferson County.

“The zoning resolution doesn’t allow them anywhere,” said Kathy Hartman, county commissioner for District 3, which covers the mountains.

“It would require a change of the zoning resolution, and we are not moving in any hurry,” Hartman said. “I would like for Jeffco to wait. I don’t want to be in a position of changing zoning while the state law is in flux.”